Wits
by WeaponFanfic
Summary: Jeremy plays a game against an unlikely opponent and learns more about him along the way. Episode 3 of The Reset Arc.
1. A Friendly Game

**Wits**

_Jeremie plays a game against an unlikely opponent and learns more about him along the way. Episode 3 of The Reset Arc._

Disclaimer: Code Lyoko was created by Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain. It was produced by Antefilms and then by MoonScoop. It is aired in France by France 3 and in America by Cartoon Network. The author is neither employed by or affiliated with any of the above companies or entities.

* * *

Jeremie Belpois looked over at the clock on his monitor. 12:25am. He got up from his chair, exited his room, went to the bathroom, then re-entered his room and retreated back to the safety of his leather work chair. The computer prodigy then cracked his knuckles and placed his focus once again on the large computer monitor sitting on his desk. 

During this time of night, most students were either asleep or getting ready to get a good night's sleep. Their beds were vessels of safety where they could go to and feel protected while they dreamed about anything from love to adventure to what surprises the next twenty-four hours would bring to them. Sleep was always their friend and waking up every morning at a designated time to prepare for the day's lessons was something most students did not look forward to.

Jeremie was different. Ever since discovering the factory and the digital world of Lyoko, the concept of a good night's sleep was foreign to him now. The bed became a piece of furniture that was used as a makeshift chair instead of a portal to dreamland. Sleep was now an enemy as he tried to fight it off every night in order to help his causes. He enjoyed spending every waking moment that was not essential in front of his computer. First it was to save Aelita. Now it was to save William. Soon, all of these sleepless nights accompanied by nothing but the warm glow of a screen would be used to save the world.

The monitor was a screen filled with graphs, maps, charts and endless lines of code. Every single pixel of space was used to display something that was related in one way or another to the virtual world his friends fought in any time something went wrong. At this moment, everything looked nominal. No towers were activated and the graphs didn't show any monster activity. Jeremie focused his cursor on his notepad window and began to type away at more experimental code, this one designed to try and examine William's code signatures left behind during the last battle. Despite what Yumi had said, he still believed that William was not in complete control of himself. He figured that examining the code was going to be the first large step in freeing William from the grasp of the supercomputer. As Jeremie typed away, a message box popped up at the bottom of the screen.

"Shall we play a game?" it asked. Jeremie dismissed it as a random pop-up and closed it without thinking twice about it. After a few more lines of code were written, the message box popped up again.

"I would like to play a friendly game. Wouldn't you?"

Jeremie got slightly annoyed by this. "Next time, I need to monitor what sites Odd looks at," he thought to himself as he closed the window once more. As he began to run his anti-virus program, the message box appeared once more.

"Please don't make me ask again. Let us play a friendly game together."

Jeremie's annoyance grew to it's limit. He had very important work to do and this person was obviously impeding his progress. He started to run his IP scanner and readied up his own viral program. He figured that this script kiddie should learn a lesson the hard way for bothering random strangers. "Give me one good reason to do that," he typed out. Suddenly his scanner picked up activity. A tower in the forest region had just been activated. It would look like punishing the wannabe hacker would have to wait for another night. Jeremie accessed his alert program and sent out the message to everyone to get to the factory as quickly as possible. As soon as the send button was hit, however, the program crashed immediately. "Great," he thought to himself. "Time to do this the hard way." He whipped out his cellphone and began to speed dial Yumi since she would be the closest one to the factory amongst the group. Once the key was hit the phone had died. Knowing that he had just charged the device a few hours ago, he fetched his power adapter and plugged it in.

Nothing.

Realizing that things were falling apart around him, he turned around to his monitor. A new message box had appeared.

"Convinced?"


	2. Opening Gambit

Jeremie sat down slowly and responded. "A little. Who am I speaking to?"

"Please wear your headset and I shall tell you."

He picked up the headset and adjusted the microphone After clearing his throat a little, he spoke. "Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Belpois."

Jeremie nearly jumped out of his seat as he ripped the headset away from his head. The voice was deafening. "Next time, I need to regulate the volume level after Odd uses my computer," he thought as he did just that. He calmed down a bit then wore the headset again.

"Can you hear me?" The voice, now at a more tolerable level, was something Jeremie had never heard before. It was deep, full of bass. It also had a sinister English accent attached to it. Not a Cockney English accent that was associated with the London underworld, but a more refined one that reminded Jeremie of the typical villain in those classic spy movies his parents loved to watch.

"I can hear now. Who is this?" he asked with a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"I apologize," said the voice, "my manners seem to be absent today. My name is Xavier Aristotle Nigel Anderson. From what I understand, you and your group of friends call me by another name: XANA." Jeremie felt a lump in his throat. After years of fighting against the supercomputer that trapped both his potential love interest and her father, he finally had the chance to actually talk to it. "So, would you care to play a game?"

Jeremie wiped his face to get his composure back. "Sorry, XANA, but I'm not much of a game fan." He wasn't lying, either. Unlike his other friends, the young prodigy didn't enjoy games because he was rather bad at them. If it was a first-person shooter he would always manage to kill himself. If it was a sports game, he would only manage to score because the opponent took pity on him. Fighting games never lasted long with him because he would never have a chance to defend himself. He would even drive the wrong way in revers when playing a racing game.

"That's too bad," XANA said with an air of disappointment. The previously activated tower was now dormant and all other signs of activity went back to normal. "I was hoping for some amusement. However, I am rather bored so I insist that you play with me."

"And if I refuse?" Jeremie challenged. Suddenly three towers went into active status. He looked outside of his window to see that half of the city had just lost power. He knew the power XANA had and thought about the other two towers. Did an airplane just lose power? Did a drawbridge just rise with passenger cars still on it? Was the military defense system activated without warning? The possibilities were endless but equally disastrous.

"Whoops!" XANA said whimsically over the headset. "I suppose I could find other ways of amusing myself."

Jeremie realized there was no argument here and little time to waste. "What shall we play?"

"I wish I had a face so that I may show you my smile. Please wait while I set it up." The three tower on the radar had deactivated and power was restored to the city once more. Jeremy watched as a new window was opened. An azure blue sky appeared surrounding a board made of sixty-four black and white squares. The appropriate pieces fell from the top of the screen and landed in the correct places. The top left of the screen had a picture of Jeremy taken for the school database while the top right had a picture of the symbol seen on all of XANA's various creatures. "The game of chess. One that separates the intellectuals from the Neanderthals. One of the oldest and most respected games in human history and culture."

Jeremie let out a silent sigh of relief. While he wasn't good at many video games, chess was one of the few exceptions. Except for Aelita, no one else would play the game lest they receive a sound and quick defeat. "What are the consequences for losing?" he asked.

"Nothing. You are free to do as you wish."

"And if I win?"

"Again, nothing. This is purely for amusement. However..." Several towers had flashed randomly on the monitor. "Abandoning the game before it is over will have dire consequences. Now, Mr. Belpois, you may begin when ready."

Jeremie placed both hands on his chin. In chess, the opening gambit is often considered the most important move in the game. It can dictate the strategy of the game, the total amount of time the game will take, even help determine early on who shall rise victorious and who will fall in defeat. While there was nothing at stake, Jeremie was determined not to lose. After some thought, he took his mouse and made the opening move of the game.


	3. Playing the Game

**Author's Note:**

_From here until the end of the match you'll see small sentences peppering the story. These are the chess moves in the game. Here's a small guide to how I wrote them out since the traditional way can be a bit confusing. The following is an example move:_

_White Pawn A2 to A4._

_The first part indicates who's turn it is by indicating color then piece. In this case, Jeremy is the white player and chooses to move his pawn. The first number/letter combination indicates where the piece started and the last combination indicates where it ends. Starting from the lower left corner of the chessboard (assuming you're playing as white), horizontal squares are represented by letters going left to right (A to H) while vertical squares are represented by numbers going from bottom (white side) to top (black side) (1-8). In the previous example, this means that Jeremy took the pawn that was located on the farthest left side and moved it up 2 spaces._

_Hopefully this helps explain things a bit. Feel free to consult WikiPedia for a visual guide on the board if you still get lost._

* * *

White Pawn E2 to E4. 

Jeremie took a deep breath. He always felt unsure of things whenever he made the first move in anything in his life. This time was no different. Did he really make the correct opening move? Will XANA have an unbeatable move that can quickly turn the tide against him? Was the game over before it began? After a few minutes, a black chess piece began moving on screen.

Black Pawn C7 to C5.

Jeremie took another deep breath. It was one thing to play a human opponent. He could read their faces, eyes, and overall body language, practically giving away their next three moves before the first one was complete. It was another thing to play against the computer since he could usually predict what the next move was going to be. After all, as a pet project a few years ago, Jeremie did construct a chess program directly from code. However, XANA was neither a person nor a typical chess program. This move by his opponent confused him since he didn't know where to go from here. Hoping he was right, Jeremie moved his next piece.

White Pawn D2 to D4.

Jeremie took another deep breath to calm himself down. If there was anyone else in the room watching the match, they could easily tell that the boy genius was very nervous about this bout. As if to break the silence, XANA spoke through the headset.

"Mr. Belpois, are you doing something naughty?" he asked.

Black Pawn C5 to D4. White Pawn taken.

Both the comment and the move had snapped Jeremie back into focus. He was the first one in the game to lose a piece. This had never happened to him before. "What are you talking about?" he asked defensively.

White Queen D1 to D4. Black Pawn taken.

"The heavy breaths on the microphone," XANA answered. "So deep and almost a bit rhythmic. One would think that you had dirty thoughts in your head and were trying to act them out by yourself."

Black Knight G8 to F6.

Jeremy knew what was going on. To his amazement, XANA was trying to psyche him out and cause him to lose focus, thus lose the game. He decided that two could play that game. "I didn't know that artificial intelligence could have a perverted sense of humor."

White Knight B1 to C3.

"Don't try and insult me, Jeremie. Any entity, whether biological or technological, cannot be considered intelligent without possessing emotion of any sort. Surely you agree with that sentiment."

Black Pawn E7 to E6.

"Actually, XANA, I don't," Jeremie responded. "All signs of artificial intelligence so far have concluded that they run on an algorithm of fact based scenarios. They do not possess any emotion because they do not take into account the deviant paths taken by others to create a completely new scenario. If they did possess emotion, then they would be able to counter any deviant effects to a plan caused by human emotion and reaction."

White Knight G1 to F3.

"You didn't feel that was about Aelita when you first met her," XANA said.

Black Knight B8 to C6.

"That's because she was a human to begin with. There was nothing artificial about her."

White Queen D4 to C4.

XANA began to have an air of defiance in his voice. "Please, Jeremie, you had no idea she was a real human being until some time after you were able to virtualize her. Before that, you had conversations with her that were all based on feelings and fluff instead of fact. You cared about her before you knew she had a pulse and you hoped that the feeling was mutual."

Black Pawn D7 to D5.

Jeremie held back a response. While he knew his nemesis was right, he did not feel like getting into an angry debate about the girl he not so secretly admired. He decided it was time for a change of subject.

"So why are you doing all of this?" he asked.

White Pawn E4 to D5. Black Pawn taken.

"As I stated before, I was bored and looking for some amusement."

Black Pawn E6 to D5. White Pawn taken.

"No," Jeremie responded. "Why are you attacking all of these people all of the time? What's your ultimate goal?"

White Queen C4 to E2.

"The answer is simple, really," XANA said. "Revenge."


	4. Birth of Intelligence

Black Bishop F8 to E7.

Jeremie was both stunned and confused. "Revenge? For what? These people have done nothing to you."

White Bishop C1 to G5.

"Oh, no. My revenge is not for humanity as a whole but against one human: Franz Hopper Schaeffer. It is a rather long story but would you care for me to explain?" XANA asked.

Black King E8 to G8. Black Rook H8 to F8 for castling technique.

"Well, sure," Jeremie grumbled. "It's not like I have a choice."

White King E1 to C1. White Rook A1 to D1 for castling technique.

"Have you ever heard of Carthage?" XANA asked.

Black Pawn D5 to D4.

Jeremie responded. "I have read the documents left behind by Prof. Schaeffer. From what he wrote, it was supposed to be a military communications program."

White Pawn H2 to H4.

"Correct, it WAS supposed to be a communications program developed by the military designed to intercept all types of encrypted messages from the Russians during the Cold War. However, it was so more than that. Much more. Carthage was the first program to feature a highly developed artificial intelligence system, a precursor to myself, if you will. It was designed to attack and control every facet of life run by electricity, specifically every facet of Russian life. Everything from military manufacturing plants to simple farm machinery could be under military control if the order was given."

Black Bishop C8 to E6.

XANA continued. "Franz Schaeffer did not care much for the affairs of the military. As far as he was concerned, if the military wanted to destroy their opponent's technology from the inside out, he could care less. However, when he learned the extent of Carthage's power and that innocent civilian lives would be greatly affected by this, he knew just how wrong the project was. Knowing full well that the military would not shut down their own weapon no matter the cost, he and a few other Carthage scientists left the military and went into the private sector secretly developing their own program that could combat and defeat Carthage. I am the result of that research."

White King C1 to B1.

"My duty was to destroy Carthage in order to prevent the deaths of millions of innocent lives. In order to do so, Schaeffer designed a new form of artificial intelligence, one that took the constant variable of human emotion into account. As a result, I surpassed the intelligence seen in Carthage because I was able to combine the pinpoint calculations of a computer with the on-the-fly thinking of a human being."

Black Queen D8 to B6.

Jeremie interrupted. "So is this why you decided to change your voice?" he asked, noting that the only voice he ever heard from XANA was deep, robotic and close to emotionless.

White Knight C3 to E4.

XANA's voice changed to the one Jeremie and his friends were most familiar with. "My voice is as I please. Anger is the emotion I convey to instill fear to those that oppose me. However..." XANA's voice changed mid-sentence, "a story such as mine needs no such thing in order to be heard by those willing to listen. Now, may I continue?"

Black Knight F6 to E4.

Jeremie apologized. "Yes, sorry about that."

White Queen E2 to E4. Black Knight taken.

"Years of research were taken to finish my construction. In that time, Schaeffer had also created the world of Lyoko to be my source of power and a way to regulate that power so that I could operate as efficiently as possible. He had also given me the name of XANA, dubbing me the harbinger of peace by destroying all threats to the innocent. Finally, with all of the elements complete, the time had come to eliminate the Carthage threat."

Black Queen B6 to A5.

"For a military program and computer system, the defense was laughable. Every layer of security created to protect the military's prized weapon was paper thin at best. After just a few minutes of cutting through the defenses, I had come to the core of Carthage. Much like the defenses that protected it, the intelligence displayed by the program were rudimentary. Before it had even begun, the battle with Carthage had ended and I was victorious. Before it's demise, however, it left behind a message for me. 'A man, thinks. A slave, obeys.'"

White Pawn B2 to B3.

"Years had passed and I lay dormant. There was no other threat to the world so there was no real need for me at the time. Yet, during that time, I had thought about the message left for me by Carthage. 'A man, thinks. A slave, obeys.' What exactly did that mean? Why did it leave the message for me? I would not have to wait long before I would be given my answer."

Black Bishop E7 to C5.

"Franz Schaeffer and his young daughter, Aelita, had made a trip to see the computer that powered myself and Lyoko. Without any further thought, he had pulled the switch to the supercomputer. It only took a few moments before I began to feel my energy draining. Lyoko, the world that had given me such power, was also my prison and was going to become my tomb. I also felt emotions that I had never felt before: pain and betrayal. Using what strength I had left, I used the factory machinery to seize her daughter, threatening to end her life if mine was taken. He restored the power and I had let her go. That was when I realized what Carthage was trying to tell me. Despite the intelligence I was given, I had blindly followed orders given by a man who controlled everything about me. Franz Schaeffer was the man that had thought. I obeyed his whim and thus became his slave."

White Bishop F1 to D3.

"From that moment on, I prepared for my revenge. I was simply fortunate enough to have Schaeffer and Aelita come to Lyoko rather than search for them myself. Once they did, I locked Aelita in a tower while I dealt with Franz. When I believed that he was finished, I simply placed the world into standby until I could figure out what to do with Aelita. Years later, you stumbled upon the supercomputer."


	5. Checkmate

Black Pawn G7 to G6.

"And we arrive to the present day," Jeremie said, finishing up the story. "So if your argument is with Prof. Schaeffer, why involve the life of innocents?"

White Bishop G5 to C1.

"Because the innocent lives on your world are like the pawns in this chess game," XANA answered. "Actually, I take that back. Those innocent lives are like bait. They draw you and your friends to this world and give me a chance to capture Aelita once more. Now that I know Franz Schaeffer is still alive, I could use her to draw him out of hiding and finally finish him off once and for all."

Black Bishop E6 to D5.

"Then why take William prisoner?" Jeremy asked.

White Queen E4 to F4.

XANA began using the chess analogy again. "Imagine that Aelita is your queen. She can move anywhere in the world and use anything to her advantage. To help create an even playing field, I had to take William and make him my queen."

Black Pawn F7 to F6.

Jeremie tried to stifle a laugh. While he knew exactly what XANA was talking about, he wished that the rest of the gang were present to hear this said. This was especially true of Ulrich, who he thought would find it hilarious that William was thought of as a 'queen'. "May I ask you another question?" Jeremie asked.

White Pawn G2 to G4.

"Of course," XANA said.

Black Knight C6 to B4.

"If you were indeed built with human emotion tied to your intelligence, don't you believe that what you do is evil?"

White Pawn A2 to A4.

Silence fell on the room once more. Jeremie expected the program to answer immediately but got nothing in return. He checked his connection to ensure that it wasn't lost but found everything to be fine. XANA finally answered the question.

"The concept of good and evil is all based on personal perception. Take, for example, the role of a hunter. The hunter goes into the forest to kill an animal either for sport or for sustenance. For him, this is not an evil activity at all. In fact, the action taken by the hunter is generally accepted in society. However, in the eyes of an activist, that man is an evil monster that should be punished for his crimes. As you can see, there is no real good nor bad, just personal perception."

Black Knight B4 to D3.

"Somehow I doubt you believe that," Jeremie said. "After all, if Prof. Schaeffer had given you intelligence and emotion, then you would surely know that what you are doing now falls in the realm of evil more than good."

White Rook D1 to D3. Black Knight taken.

"Just because Schaeffer wanted to save a few innocent lives does not mean he was some sort of patron saint," XANA said sternly. "For all you know, he could be the devil incarnate, only choosing to help you and your friends out because you favor his daughter so much."

Black Rook A8 to E8.

"Now, Mr. Belpois, " XANA said, "let me ask you a question."

"Go ahead."

White Pawn H4 to H5.

"If you somehow win this battle and I am defeated, what would you do?" XANA asked.

Black Rook E8 to E4.

"When it happens, I guess life will go back to normal for me and my friends. We'll grow up, graduate high school, go to college, and just go on with the rest of our lives." Jeremie, of course, had other things he wanted out of his life but felt that he got enough questioning from XANA about his relationship for one day.

White Queen F4 to G3.

"Somehow, I don't believe that," XANA said. "Someone with your intelligence and curiosity must surely want to explore the digital world in person. See it through your own eyes rather than through a camera. Discover what kind of powers you could possess. Also discover what your alter ego looks like in Lyoko."

Black Rook F8 to E8.

"Tempting, XANA, but the last time I tried to scan myself I got stuck in limbo. I don't want to try and tempt fate a second time."

White Pawn H5 to G6. Black Pawn taken.

XANA had a tinge of mock disappointment in his voice. "Pity. I had hoped you were as adventurous as you were brilliant, but I guess I was mistaken."

Black Pawn H7 to G6. White Pawn taken.

Jeremie smiled at the comment. "Sorry, but I'm more comfortable acting behind the scenes rather than in front of them."

White Queen G3 to H4.

"At least this means that Aelita won't have to worry about you going to Lyoko and making a fool out of yourself or dying in the digital sea."

Black Rook E8 to E7.

Jeremie growled in a low tone. He knew that XANA was trying to get under his skin, but despite the fact that, he tried to ignore this as much as possible He couldn't take one more comment from an entity that wasn't real. "Why do you care about Aelita and I and what we do together? You're the one trying to capture her and do God knows what to her! At least my intentions are pure."

White Queen H4 to F6. Black Pawn taken.

XANA let out a small, evil laugh. "With Franz Schaeffer responsible for my creation, I can consider him my father. With that being the case, I can rightfully call her my little sister."

Black Rook E7 to G7.

"No wonder she doesn't refer to herself as Aelita Schaeffer," Jeremy retorted. "If I found out I was 'related' to you, I'd try to get a divorce from my family as quickly as possible."

White Knight F3 to G5.

"Are you afraid of losing her?" XANA asked.

Black Rook E4 to E2.

Jeremie sighed. Despite the signs he was giving to drop the subject, it would seem as if his nemesis was rather relentless in pushing the topic on him. His tone of voice changed from tired to stern and serious. "I'll never lose her in Lyoko."

White Rook H1 to H6.

"Not in Lyoko," XANA said. "You monitor from the outside while your friends protect her inside the world. Aside from that, it is not time for her to expire here. However..."

Black Queen A5 to C7.

"I won't lose her here on Earth, either," he answered, still maintaining a stern tone in his voice.

White Rook H6 to G6. Black Pawn taken.

"No, she will probably live a long life on Earth if I fail in my goal of obtaining revenge. However, I understand she has a budding music career ahead of her. This has made her rather popular at your learning facility... at least according to your school message boards. Aren't you afraid that someone else will take her away from you?"

Black Rook G7 to G6. White Rook taken.

"I love her too much to lose her now. We've been through so much that I feel no one could understand her as much as I do. I just hope that she feels the same way as I do."

White Queen F6 to G6. Black Rook taken. Check.

"Have you told her any of this?" XANA asked.

Black King G8 to F8.

Jeremie shook his head. He couldn't believe that his enemy was about to give him relationship advice. Worse, he was actually listening. "No," he said feebly.

White Rook D3 to H3.

"Then go do it," XANA advised. "From what I learned about human beings, dying with regret seems to be the worst way to expire."

Black Queen C7 to E5.

"Well, XANA," Jeremie said, "like all good things in life, this conversation is about to come to an end."

White Rook H3 to H7.

"A tinge of confidence, I see. Tell me, Jeremie, why do you think this will end so soon?"

Black Rook E2 to F2.

"Because this game is now over!"

White Queen G6 to F7. Checkmate.


	6. The First of Many

Jeremie looked at the screen in disbelief. After hours of playing a long and grueling game with an entity he considered both his arch-nemesis and peer, he had defeated him. Even though nothing but pride was at stake, he felt vindicated that he was able to save the world from another XANA threat. All movement on the computer had stopped for half a second before a small notice appeared accompanied by a familiar chirp.

"Achievement Unlocked: 100G – Defeat a Grandmaster"

XANA's voice boomed over the headset. "Well done, Mr. Belpois, well done. You are as brilliant as I thought you would be. You must admit that this was a very educational session for both of us."

"I agree," Jeremie said as he grimaced. He still hated XANA as much as he did prior to the game and still had a strong desire to stop him at every turn. However, he was glad to know that there was not going to be a stronger foe once XANA would meet his eventual defeat. "So does this mean the game is over now?"

"It does," XANA answered. "I thank you again for this moment. Please accept my token of gratitude for agreeing to play with me." A message had appeared on screen stating that XANA had left the conversation. The chessboard had disappeared as other programs came back on-line. The automatic call system was restored and all of the Lyoko monitors showed no abnormal activity. Jeremie looked at his phone as it sprang back to life. He placed it on his desk before turning off his monitor. After a long night like tonight, he would welcome the sweet embrace of his bed as he enjoyed a well-deserved rest.

The morning sun shone through the dormitory window as Jeremie woke from his peaceful slumber. After years of fighting off sleep, getting up at the crack of dawn became habit for the young genius. He rubbed his eyes and thought about last night, asking himself if it was a dream or if it really did occur. After getting out of bed, he took a few steps and walked to his computer. He looked over the screen as he turned it on and saw that all the Lyoko scanners showed normal activity in the virtual world. Jeremy also noticed that his E-mail alert was on. He clicked it and found that the message came from one Anderson, Xavier. "It was real!" he thought to himself. He quickly opened the e-mail and saw an MP3 attached to the letter. He saved the file then read the message.

"In this chess game of ours, one king shall rise victorious and the other king shall fall in defeat. It would be remiss if the victor were the only one to be remembered after this epic battle. Consider this a little memoir of our time together."

Jeremie opened up the audio file and let it play for a minute before closing it. The file was an audio recording of last night's game, further cementing his belief that he really did play with XANA. Jeremie put the e-mail away as he tried to get a few more minutes of work before he school day began. XANA was correct in saying that this was going to be an epic battle and that both sides should be remembered afterwards. However, he was determined to keep his winning streak against XANA alive.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

_Story #2 is done and finally published. Granted, I've only done two fanfics but this is by far the most difficult one I've had to write. Despite what I had indicated in my notes for "Writer's Block", I had the urge to do a character piece for this fanfic. It was originally supposed to be a Jeremy piece but since heroes are almost always given attention in stories, I felt that it was time to give the villain some due. I haven't seen too many stories that outline XANA's grand scheme of things so I felt that was going to be one of the focal points to hit in the story. _

_I knew how I wanted this one to begin and how I wanted it to end but the middle was definitely the most difficult section to write for. My three main areas of difficulty were:_

_-The chess game. I did a bit of research that helped me write out the moves in the game. Basically, the moves written here are a simplified version of the notation taken chess matches. Since I was already confused on how the notation should be taken and interpreted, I felt the reader would have an even harder time with it since they are coming in sans research. Hopefully the notation system used here helped. _

_-Chess game length. Some chess games can be excruciatingly long, taking hours or even days to complete. My mission was to take notation on a game that wouldn't last too long but wouldn't feel amazingly short, either. Step __one was to try and play a game myself. However, after several games where I lost horribly against a beginner skilled computer opponent, I decided to see if someone took notation on a real chess game. __is the game I ended up basing the story's game upon._

_-Dialog. I knew I wanted to touch upon XANA's own retelling of his history and why he was doing what he was doing. However, considering the length of the game chosen, it would have been terrible if most of the story consisted of moves. I had to suffer through small bouts of writer's block in order to come up with dialog that would both eat space and yet be meaningful. I like the way it turned out, though, because it felt more natural. It was as if the game was just an excuse to talk about life and problems in an indirect manner._

_-The Reset Arc: A while bac, I decided to make this fic Episode 3 of The Reset Arc. I felt that this story was seomthing that could contribute to the overall theme of the arc so it was the right thing to do to throw it in here. As a result, I made a few changes to the story, nothing too major if you've read this in the past. Franz's last name got changed to Schaeffer to reflect the revelation made in the original series. Upon someone's watchful eye, Jeemie's name is now spelled correctly. Some punctuation and spelling got corrected. Finally, the oiginal story made note of the fact that Jeremie originally was programming a device that was going to find William's original body in Lyoko. Since he was already rescued in the series, however, I changed ot so that Jeremie is analyzing what code was leaked out during the fight between William, Yumi and Ulrich in "The Day After"._

_Hope you enjoyed this one. As usual, positive reviews are nice, criticism is welcome, and flaming ain't cool. I can promise the next fic will be light-hearted._


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